


Of Humans and Flowered Beasts

by Irl_koujakuu



Category: DRAMAtical Murder (Visual Novel), DRAMAtical Murder - All Media Types
Genre: M/M, Theres some violence but i dont think its graphic enough to put an archive warning on for
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-05-31
Updated: 2017-05-31
Packaged: 2018-11-07 08:40:46
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 6,225
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/11055366
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Irl_koujakuu/pseuds/Irl_koujakuu
Summary: Koujaku's haunted by hallucinations of the man who cursed him and it drives him to becoming a beast once more, with Aoba the only one who can help him.





	Of Humans and Flowered Beasts

 “Koujaku wake up! You're having a nightmare again!” Aoba shouted. The scarred man woke up with a jolt and tried to catch his breath. He'd been having the same nightmare again and again. Every night, the graphic scene of the slaughter that happened to his family replayed. He relived each moment and each murder he committed, including the murder of his mother. He did his best to keep his composure, as he didn't want to frighten Aoba and make him any more concerned than he already was. 

 

 “Aoba I'm alright, go back to sleep,” Koujaku said with a hint of unsureness in his voice. He didn't know if he was going to be actually be alright, with each nightmare came hallucinations of the man who had been behind his suffering. With each hallucination, Koujaku felt his humanity slip from him more and more every time it happened. He knew that eventually, he'd lose his humanity and become a beast, but he never told Aoba, as he didn't want his lover to be afraid of him. Just the thought of being a beast forever made Koujaku shiver. He had no idea how Aoba would react to seeing him with a wild red mane along with long claws and fangs. The thought of eye contact made him shiver even more. How would Aoba react when gazing into the red and yellow eyes of a monster? Koujaku didn't want to know. He laid back down and shut his eyes, trying to change his train of thought away from the his nightmares. 

 

_  “Oh Koujaku, you're trying to escape your true self aren't you? Once a beast always a beast, that's the truth of the matter. You can't escape it Koujaku, you're a beast and you always will be.”  _ Koujaku's eyes shot back open and he let out a loud growl. Out of the corner of his eye, he spotted Ryuuhou. He threw himself at the man, but only ended up hitting the bedroom door instead. However, he kept attacking anywhere he thought he saw him. 

 

 “Ryuuhou…” Koujaku growled, getting ready to attack once more. He threw himself onto the bed again and began clawing on the wall, which proceeded to awaken Aoba.

 

 Aoba quickly placed his hand on top of Koujaku's. Koujaku let out another growl, which alerted Aoba that whatever was happening was worse than what he had anticipated. Koujaku turned his head and met Aoba's gaze. To his horror, Koujaku didn't seem to recognize him. 

 

 “Ryuuhou!” Koujaku roared as he threw both himself and Aoba to the floor. Koujaku's claws sank into Aoba's side, and his fangs sank into his shoulder. Without hesitation, he proceeded to use scrap and enter Koujaku's headspace. 

 

  Unlike when he had scrapped Koujaku in Oval Tower, Koujaku's headspace was a singular room. The brick walls made light impossible to enter, with the exception for one window at the top of the room and the smell of blood was near overwhelming. In the small amount of light, Aoba noticed chains all over the room, and a beast-like figure that they were restraining. 

 

 Aoba  _ knew _ that this figure was Koujaku. He stepped closer to figure, prompting it to let out a very loud and inhuman growl. This growl, however, wasn't a growl of anger or a way of telling Aoba to back off, it was a pained growl. Aoba continued to approach the beast, prompting even more growls. Once face to face with the beast, Aoba's feelings were confirmed. Through the faint light, his eyes locked with the red and yellow eyes of the now beastly Koujaku. Aoba stretched out a hand and stroked Koujaku's face, reassuring him that everything was going to be alright and that Ryuuhou was dead and gone. 

 

 Koujaku opened his mouth as if he were trying to speak, but only growls came from his mouth. To Aoba, it seemed that he was trying to say “I'm sorry”. 

 

 Aoba wrapped his arms around the beast, continuing to provide reassurance to him. Aoba felt arms wrap around his body, he noticed Koujaku was hugging him. Koujaku's face was buried in Aoba's stomach. Aoba knew that it was time to destroy the chains, and exit Koujaku's headspace. He just hoped that he did enough for Koujaku to be human once he exited his mind and entered back into reality. 

 

 Aoba's eyes shifted back to the real world. To his horror, Koujaku still was not human. He was overcome with the feeling of failure. He was scared that his lover was going to be a beast forever and that the man he knew would never return. Aoba could care less about his bleeding wounds, all he cared about was Koujaku, who kept glancing from his claws and back to Aoba. 

 

  Koujaku got up off the ground and darted into the bathroom, knocking down item after item from the shelves until he found bandages. He ran back to Aoba, and dropped the bandages into his lap. Koujaku sat down next to Aoba as he wrapped his wounds in the bandages he brought him.

 

 “It’s five in the morning Koujaku, let's go back to bed.” Aoba suggested. The events of the night had taken a toll on him and he could tell that Koujaku was tired too. The two got back into bed. Aoba pulled the white sheets and red blanket over them. Aoba felt arms wrap around him and a head rest on his shoulder. Aoba couldn't help but to blush a bit. It was relieving to him that the Koujaku he knew was still there, even if he was a beast. Koujaku buried his head in the nape of Aoba's neck and began to purr. In less than a minute, Koujaku was asleep. The rhythmic purring soon caused Aoba to fall asleep too.

 

 The next day, Aoba awoke to a loud thumping sound. He rubbed his eyes and looked around his room, only to be greeted by a seemingly irritated Koujaku sitting in front of him and hitting the ground with his hands. Aoba rolled his eyes and tried to go back to sleep. At this gesture, Koujaku let out a slightly irritated sound and jumped up onto the bed, with his long, red hair flying all over the place in the process. 

 

 “Koujaku it's too early to get up,” groaned Aoba. He was still extremely tired from the night before. Koujaku’s expression turned even more annoyed at this remark. He growled again and proceeded to lie down on top of  Aoba and wrap his tattooed arms around the man. Aoba let out a small chuckle, as Koujaku used to do this a lot when he was human. Upon hearing Aoba's laugh, Koujaku rolled over, bringing Aoba with him. Koujaku had Aoba in a hug that was tighter than ever. Now with Aoba on top, the two locked eyes together. Unlike the last time they locked gazes, Aoba felt content and saw that this was indeed the same Koujaku he fell in love with, even if he did look and act more beastly. 

 

 “Grrrrr..!” Koujaku quickly covered his mouth with his hands. He wanted to tell Aoba how much he loved him, but all that came out was an animalistic growl. He quickly looked away from his blue haired lover with a look of shame. He didn't want Aoba to see him like this, but there was nothing he could do about it. Instinctively, he let out a softer, more sorrowful growl. 

 

 Aoba placed his hand on Koujaku's shoulder and tried to comfort him. Koujaku peered over his shoulder with a look of shock. He honestly couldn't believe that Aoba was still by his side, let alone unafraid of him. Aoba knew what he was capable of doing, he had been there when he so ruthlessly slaughtered Ryuuhou, and he had experienced just the night before what it felt like to end up with claws and bite wounds on his body. Koujaku wondered why Aoba wasn't afraid of him even though he had experienced all of these things. He felt his eyes begin to water, he wanted to say so many things, but he couldn't. The only things he was able to do were growl and fall into a rage. He didn't see himself in a positive light, especially when he was in his beast state. He only saw himself as a murderer and monster.

 

 Koujaku got up and locked himself in the bathroom. He felt anger well up inside him and he didn't even try to fight it. What did it matter? He already was a beast so it wouldn't do much harm. Koujaku let out a scream and threw himself at the wall, which caused him more pain than he had expected. He let out a pained sound, yet continued on with his rampage. He locked gazes with himself in the mirror for a few seconds and upon realizing he was staring at himself, threw himself at it, claws first, shattering it into sharp shards of glass, which left him with many minor cuts. 

 

 Aoba frantically banged on the door, yelling as loud as he could to snap Koujaku back to his senses. He didn't want to use scrap again, due to it failing just a day ago. He didn't want to risk making Koujaku's state worse than it already was. No matter how many times Aoba pounded and shouted, Koujaku didn't seem to notice him. Taking in a deep breath, Aoba attempted to break down the door, to no avail. He'd need to use something heavy to break it down, and the thought of that scared him because what if Koujaku was pressing himself against the door and he got hurt when Aoba broke it down? Aoba tried one last time to reach Koujaku. He yelled out his name as loud as he could and the racket from inside the bathroom stopped. Aoba attempted to turn the doorknob, but it had been locked. He didn't expect Koujaku to unlock it anytime soon, so he sat down by the door and talked in sweet words to Koujaku, who was laying down on the other side. 

 

 Koujaku's breaths were loud and shaky at first, but progressively got calmer and softer. Aoba's words had calmed him down a lot, but he still didn't feel like he was deserving of his boyfriend’s kindness. Koujaku shoved his thoughts aside and unlocked the door. Once he exited the room, Aoba went in and tried to fix the mirror, but it was beyond repair. Aoba also grabbed a first aid kit, sat down with Koujaku, and tended to his wounds. Koujaku was thankful for this, although he couldn't verbally say it. When Aoba had finished, Koujaku laid down with his head in Aoba's lap. He purred as Aoba played with his long and messy red hair. Although it was still the morning, the two were still extremely tired, causing them to fall asleep once more.

 

_  Koujaku looked around frantically. The entire area was covered in blood, and so was he. Blood dripped from his sword and he realized what he had done. He had murdered almost his entire clan. The frantic young man ran inside as quickly as he could, and to his horror, he found his mother, half-dead, bleeding out on the floor.  _

 

_  “Mom!” the boy shouted with a shaky voice. He was grief stricken at the fact he had been responsible for this. His mother looked up at him with a smile on her face. She wasn't even angry at him. Koujaku kneeled down next to her, and tried to stop her bleeding. _

 

_ “Son, it's too late for me. Please don't blame yourself for any of this, it wasn't your fault,” she spoke, being interrupted by coughs and gasps, “I'll always love you. You have a good heart my Red Sparrow,” his mother coughed some more, gasped, and shut her eyes. She was dead.  _

 

_  Koujaku let out a shrill wail, his grief was enough to make his tattoo bloom once more, but he resisted it. His grief stricken shriek had alerted his father to his whereabouts. The tall man walked into the room and forced the boy up. His father locked eyes with him and gave him a long and cold glare. The two walked with silence to the furthest room.  _

 

_  Once there, the muscular man took out his knife, beckoned his guards to hold Koujaku down and bring him close. Koujaku was terrified. He had no idea what was going to happen to him. He was only nineteen, he was still young. He thought to himself about how he surely was going to be executed.  _

 

_  “Listen beast, fiends like you are a scourge to humankind,” spoke his father, “I had hopes for you. I had hoped you'd make a great leader and that you'd be able to make anyone submit to us with your inhumanity, but no. You turned on us, you betrayed us. You're no worse than any other demons, you scum.” The man stabbed his knife into Koujaku's cheek and yanked it over his nose and across his face. “Let this scar be a mark of your sins and a reminder that you are nothing but a worthless beast. Now get out of here, if I ever see you again, I will not hesitate to have you killed on sight”  _

 

 Koujaku bolted awake, he looked down at his hands, and to his dismay, each finger had a long claw. He reflected on his father's words, maybe he was right, maybe all he was in reality was a beast, a scourge to humanity. He looked over at Aoba, who was still asleep. He gently swept Aoba's hair to the side of his face and tried his best to kiss him, although his fangs did get in the way. Koujaku slowly wrapped his arms around the sleeping man and placed his head on his chest. Maybe if he were holding Aoba while slept, his nightmares would vanish. Koujaku eventually fell back to sleep. 

  
  


 The next morning, the two awoke as usual. Nothing really seemed out of the ordinary, however, Koujaku did notice that Aoba seemed a bit more stressed than usual. Koujaku approached him calmly, but Aoba still flinched and drew back. This startled Koujaku, but at the same time, he felt that Aoba's reaction was justified. After all, Aoba wasn't used to seeing him like this for this long of a time period, usually when he went into his bestial state, it only lasted two days at most, whereas this time, he hadn't shifted down from it, it had been three days at this point, and frankly, he wondered if he ever would. He reflected on the words that he heard from the hallucinations of Ryuuhou, and tensed up. He had been disassociating for about thirty minutes when he finally was pulled back to reality. Aoba was sitting on his lap and playing with his hair. This happened a lot when he shifted into his beast state. Aoba would play with his hair to help him stay calm and to relieve him from his disassociation, which happened quite frequently, shifted or not. 

 

 Aoba looked up at Koujaku and smiled softly. This gesture made Koujaku flustered, although this time, he was more flustered than usual. Aoba leaned forward and kissed Koujaku as best as he could. Koujaku's fangs did get in the way, but Aoba didn't care. 

 

 Koujaku let out a sound that could only be described as a surprised whimper. He did not expect Aoba to kiss him. His face was bright red at this point, prompting Aoba to giggle. Koujaku had to catch his breath, because he had been so caught up in the moment of flusteredness that he had forgotten to breathe. Koujaku's heart ached over the fact that he couldn't tell Aoba how much he loved him. The only thing even close to words that he could say was Aoba's name, and even then, it was a physical struggle for him to say it, making it sound broken into syllables. Koujaku desperately wanted to say so many things to Aoba, but he knew he couldn't do it. 

 

 Time seemed to fly by as the two got caught up in a moment of affection. Aoba carefully traced Koujaku's tattoos and scars. He traced his finger over the scar that went across his lover’s face. It was long and had a soft texture to it. Like Koujaku's other scars, it was ever so slightly elevated on his skin, like a small hill, but long. Soon after, the two made eye contact. Aoba gazed into the crimson and yellow eyes of his lover. He didn't see a monster, he saw a man he had known since childhood, a man who had always protected him. Aoba knew that no matter what happened, he never could see Koujaku as a monster. Even if Koujaku did end up a beast forever, he'd never be a monster in Aoba's eyes. Koujaku was always good to him, and when Koujaku mistook him for Ryuuhou due to his hallucinations a couple nights ago and attacked him, he could tell that as soon as Koujaku realized that it was Aoba, he immediately felt regret and did what he could to make sure Aoba was alright, which involved Koujaku knocking down many items from shelves in the bathroom until he found bandages, which he then brought to Aoba. 

 

 Koujaku gazed into the honey colored eyes of his lover. He pondered how Aoba didn't see him as a monster. Koujaku felt that all he had done to anyone's lives was make it miserable, if not end it. He had been responsible for the murders of his own clan, which was a weight that he had to carry around the rest of his life. It was a weight that never could go away. He also was plagued over how in the end, Ryuuhou had won, he had fallen into Ryuuhou’s trap. Ryuuhou had  _ wanted  _ Koujaku to kill him, and he did exactly that. It bothered him a lot, knowing that Ryuuhou had gotten his way the entire time, but what bothered him more was the fact Aoba had seen this happen. He didn't want Aoba to see him in a bloodthirsty rage, he didn't want Aoba to see him as the monster he believed he was. The fact Aoba didn't hold any of these things against him came as a huge shock. Even after witnessing him kill Ryuuhou in the most ruthless fashion, Aoba still saw him as a good person. This always had surprised Koujaku, and it still did. 

 

 Aoba once again leaned over and kissed Koujaku, this time, he caressed his lover’s face and embraced him. The kiss lasted about two minutes, which seemed like forever to the two of them. Aoba checked his coil for the time, it was now nine thirty at night, which meant that they had been so caught up in affection that they didn't notice the hours slip by so fast. 

 

 Koujaku and Aoba got up from the couch and proceeded to their room. It was late and they were tired. Aoba laid his head on Koujaku's chest and fell asleep, Koujaku following suit roughly five minutes after.

 

_ Koujaku's footsteps got faster and faster. He knew this wasn't the best idea, but he had to do it. He had to go back and confront his father for all of the atrocities he had caused. Koujaku arrived at the familiar mansion, which made him feel sick. He was met with scornful looks and men readying their swords and any other weapons they had. Koujaku paid no heed to these looks, his mind was set on one thing and one thing alone; his father.  _

 

_  Koujaku burst through the door of his father's room, but to his surprise and dismay, the room was empty. Suddenly, he felt a sharp pain in his side and felt a warm trickle go down from the area of pain. He looked behind him and it was none other than his father, who was holding a small, bloody dagger. Koujaku felt rage build up inside of himself once more and his back began to sting and burn with a pain indescribable. Soon enough, Koujaku had the man pinned below him. He growled and made a move to bite the man’s throat, but was quickly retaliated against. Both men were on their feet, weapons drawn.  _

 

_ “Why don't we take this outside, demon,” spoke the older man. Koujaku let out a roar and slammed both himself and his father through the window and into the main courtyard, where dozens of people were watching.  _

 

_  Koujaku readied his sword, and with a swift motion, drove it through the chest of his father, piercing his heart. Koujaku quickly pulled his sword out of the man and let him die. The other men who were surrounding him rushed towards him with their weapons, but with one large swing of his sword in a circle, they too were vanquished. Koujaku turned around, only to be greeted by a sight he didn't want to see. A man was holding his sister up at knife point. As Koujaku once again readied his sword, the man slit his sister’s throat. This pushed Koujaku over the edge, he had let out another roar and sliced his sword right through the man.  _

 

_  Koujaku quickly crouched down by his sister. She had been forced to stay with the clan during Koujaku's exile, even though she protested. She was the only living connection to his mother that he had, and now that connection had been taken from him. She said something similar to what his mother had said before she died, however, his sister was reminding him that he had always been a good brother, even though they rarely got to interact. Koujaku watched as the light slipped from her eyes. He let out a loud, pained, roar. He had lost everything. _

 

 Koujaku once again was jolted awake. His nightmares never seemed to end, and every time, they had been flashbacks to his past. He wanted so desperately to forget, but he couldn't. He never would forget his sins. 

 

  Aoba was still asleep, Koujaku looked over at the clock he kept on a small table by his bed. The clock read three thirty A.M. He growled and tried to fall back to sleep, which was not a success. No matter how hard he tried, whenever he'd close his eyes, even if for a split second, a flashback to his days on the mainland would occur. Sleeping was hopeless and he knew it. He laid there, staring off into space, not knowing what to do. He wasn't human anymore, he couldn't speak without struggling to the point of his words being broken, and he was prone snapping and going on a rampage, causing others to get hurt. He couldn't bear it. Once again, he felt completely hopeless. There was no way he'd ever be human again, which tore him apart internally. If it weren't for Aoba, he would have given up and accepted his fate as a beast and wreaked havoc on the mainland because he felt that was all he was good for; shedding blood wherever he went. 

 

 Bad thoughts began to creep slowly into Koujaku's mind. These thoughts were more like voices, which reminded him of how he was a monster, how he was a murderer, how he was a mother killer. He could barely handle it. He placed his clawed hands over his pointed ears in an attempt to drown out the voices, but it was no use. The more he resisted, the more vile the voices got. He got out of bed, opened the door, locked it, and shut it, locking Aoba in. Koujaku did this for Aoba's own safety, that way the only one who could open the door would be Aoba himself, since it locked from the inside. 

 

 Koujaku lied down on the sofa, and tried once more to rest, but once again was unable to sleep. The voices continued to get worse and worse and flashbacks played on loop in his brain. He felt that he was losing his mind. He believed that he really was nothing but a bloodthirsty beast. The cherry on the cake was the soft, yet taunting voice of Ryuuhou, the one who turned him into this thing, this monster. Koujaku let out a loud roar, broke out of the house, sword in hand, and proceeded to begin a bloodthirsty rampage. 

 

 Since it was early in the morning, nobody was really out at this time, except for two men, whom he had hated from the moment he laid his eyes on them a couple years ago. He let out a growl and proceeded to cut them down with his sword, spilling their blood all over the street. He hated those Yakuza scumbags with a passion, and he used this hatred to snuff out their life as if it were a candle flame. 

 

 Koujaku continued to slam his sword into the bodies even though he knew they were corpses, until he had noticed that people had witnessed his murder of the two Yakuza members. Soon enough, police were surrounding him with their guns drawn. He didn't care if they shot at him or even killed him. He let out a loud yell, and forced his way through the cops, taking a few bullets in his arms and legs, as he was too fast and agile for most of the police, however, he had brought himself to a dead end, causing him to be cornered by the police. He felt a sharp pain in his arm and soon, everything went black.

 

 Aoba woke up in a panic. All he had heard was the sounds of screaming, gunshots, and a loud, animalistic noise. He rolled over to face Koujaku, but he was greeted with an empty bed space. His heart sunk and he had realized what exactly was happening. It was five in the morning, but he bolted out of the door and into the streets. When out, he called up Mizuki on his coil and the two met up. Mizuki explained how he had seen the police corner Koujaku and tranquilize him. This lead Aoba and Mizuki to check the jail in the old resident's district. Unfortunately, nobody was there except for a couple Scratch members, who had gotten themselves into trouble. 

 

The next place they thought to look would be Oval Tower, which had been rebuilt and under new ownership. Mizuki said that there was a prison in the basement, so that was worth checking out. As Platinum Jail was no longer under Toue’s ownership, it was now free to get in, however, Oval Tower was still highly guarded as ever, and the two needed a way to get in. 

 

 “Well, how are we gonna get in? The place is under heavy security,” asked Aoba.

 

 “Listen, I know you probably don't wanna do this but, let Sly have some fun,” said Mizuki.

 

This only meant one thing; Aoba had to let his headmate front and break the minds of the guards. Normally, Aoba didn't let Sly control the body, but this was a different case, plus, Mizuki and Sly had something special together, so it was bound to happen sooner or later. Aoba sighed and gave up control of the body.

 

 “Yo where the fuck are we? Is that Oval Tower?” Sly asked. He wasn't used to Aoba willingly giving up control. 

 

 “Go fuck up those guards, we're breaking in,” Mizuki said. Sly's confused expression turned into one of sheer joy, as he proceeded to break the minds of every guard. 

 

 Mizuki grabbed Sly by the hand and the two snuck in through the back door. The darkened utility corridor gave them both the creeps, but they dealt with it. As they walked through, Mizuki explained the situation to Sly. 

 “Dude, you better fucking kiss me before Aoba finds Koujaku, it may be our only chance because you know damn well Aoba won't give up this body unless you talk him into it or I force my way to the front, and both of those rarely work,” Sly chided. He and Mizuki had been in a relationship since their teen years. Mizuki chuckled and did as Sly asked. Eventually, they had made their way into the prison, which was dark, cold, and smelled similar to that of a hospital. Sly gave the body back to Aoba so he could search for Koujaku with Mizuki.

 

 “God damn it!” Mizuki shouted. This grabbed Aoba's attention, “He's not here either, so where the hell is he?” 

 

 Aoba sighed and sat on the ground and thought. He thought of all the possible places they could have taken Koujaku. He didn't have Ren with him today, so he couldn't ask anything. Aoba's eyes started to moisten, when Mizuki took out one of his allmates. This allmate in particular was Dax, another ermine like Miki, in fact, Dax had stated in the past that he and Miki were brother and sister. Mizuki asked Dax for any other prisons on the island, to which he got an unexpected answer. Dax pulled up a map on Mizuki's coil and directed him and Aoba to a forest just north of where the old Morphine warehouse was. In that forest, there was a one cell prison, which was reportedly used only for the worst of the worst or people who would be too powerful for a normal prison. That had to be where Koujaku was. 

 

 It had been about three hours and the two men were deep in the forest. So far, they had not come across anything remotely like a prison.

 

 “Dax, do you have any exact coordinates on this prison?” Mizuki asked.

 

 “It’s about two more miles north,” Dax replied. Mizuki nodded his head and kept on walking with Aoba through the dense and dark forest. 

 

 About half an hour passed and Aoba stopped dead in his tracks. He prompted Mizuki to be quiet and listened for a sound he had just heard. To his disbelief, the same sound rang out again. It was a deep growl, which Aoba recognized all too well. Aoba told Mizuki to stay where he was at, and proceeded to follow the growl. Aoba was lead through thick rows of trees and it was almost night now, however, he wouldn't lose hope. He had come so far, and it was too late to turn back, besides, he wouldn't just leave Koujaku like that. About another thirty minutes passed when Aoba finally saw through the trees, a clearing, with one, barred up prison cell, and a figure in the corner of it. 

 

 Aoba carefully made his way through the trees and into the clearing with the cell. The figure seemed to have spotted him, as it threw itself upon the bars of the cell, growling madly. Aoba recognized everything about the figure. It was definitely Koujaku. 

 

 Aoba walked slowly towards Koujaku. He didn't want to startle him or anger him. Eventually, Aoba had reached the very edge of the cell and was standing face to face with the beastly Koujaku. Koujaku growled, but Aoba reached his hand into the cell, beckoning Koujaku to touch it, which he did. Aoba slowly brought his hand up to Koujaku's face and swept his bangs to the side. The two made direct eye contact. Koujaku growled again but Aoba didn't let it scare him. 

 

 “Koujaku, I'm glad I found you,” said Aoba, “I was scared I'd never see you again, and that you were dead.” 

 

  Koujaku let out a growl-like yell in response. Aoba wasn't phased.

 

 “I'm going to get you out of here,” Spoke Aoba again, “you deserve to live somewhere you can be happy. You're not a monster.”

 

  Koujaku growled again, and Aoba had noticed how much blood he had been covered in. Every scar on his body had reopened, plus there was dried blood from his kills earlier. Aoba was horrified. Not because Koujaku was a beast, but because of how much blood Koujaku may have lost. In a frantic panic, Aoba searched the cell for an entrance, but found none. As a last resort and from Sly's suggestions, Aoba used scrap to destroy the bars on the prison cell, thus freeing Koujaku. 

 

 Koujaku quickly pinned down Aoba and growled. Koujaku's blood was dripping onto Aoba, which freaked him out. Aoba managed to free one of his arms from Koujaku's grasp and brought it up to the beast’s face and traced his tattoo, just like he had done before. Koujaku growled again, but this time, it was softer and more akin to the sound a dog makes when it sighs. Aoba also felt Koujaku's grip loosen. 

 

 Aoba got up and stood face to face with Koujaku. The two made eye contact. Aoba had no intent to Scrap him, mainly because Koujaku was unstable enough as it was and that only heightened the chances of Scrap failing. The two ended up locking hands and eyes. Soon enough, the two were locked in an embrace. 

 

 It was late and the two were tired. Aoba and Koujaku walked back to the area Mizuki was waiting at. Unsurprisingly, Mizuki was asleep. Not wanting to wake him, Aoba and Koujaku seemed to agree to just crash in the forest for the night. Before sleeping though, Aoba led Koujaku down to a flowing river and proceeded to wash off all of the now dried blood from the now calm beast. Aoba also used the water to wash Koujaku's hair and to rinse himself off as well. The moonlight shone down on the two from the trees above. Koujaku let out a growl and proceeded to splash Aoba with water from the river. Aoba chuckled and splashed back. The two were engaged in a full on splash battle like they were two kids in a swimming pool. Soon enough, the two found themselves in an embrace and kiss. Aoba felt that kissing was somewhat awkward with Koujaku's huge fangs, but he dealt with it anyways. 

 

 The two broke free from their romantic endeavor and then proceeded to finish washing up. Koujaku snuck up behind Aoba and lifted him bridal style out of the water. Koujaku carried Aoba this way to their makeshift camping spot. Koujaku laid down on his side, and Aoba rested as the little spoon. Koujaku wrapped his arms around Aoba to keep him warm and rested his head on the bluenette’s shoulder. For once, he actually felt safe. No voices were there to bother him. As long as he had Aoba, he was safe. Not long after he had shut his eyes, he fell asleep, purring into Aoba's ear. 

 

The next morning, the three men woke up. Koujaku was still in his beast mode, but he felt a lot more calm. He knew that soon he'd be human again, and so did Aoba, albeit he was still worried. The only issue they had left was getting Koujaku back into town without the residents going into mass panic, as Koujaku still was a beast after all. Mizuki decided that it would be best to just camp out until Koujaku shifted down. He was going to run back to Black Needle and pick up some food and drinks for them. Aoba and Koujaku nodded, and Mizuki headed off.

 

 It was just Aoba and Koujaku now. The two sat in silence with each other for a good five minutes, when suddenly, Koujaku pinned Aoba down again, this time in a playful manner. 

 

 “You hippo,” Aoba teased. He used all of his strength and ended up managing to pin down Koujaku. The two played like this for a good amount of time. Before they knew it, it was night again and Mizuki was back with a ton of food and drinks. The three ate and then went back to sleep.

 

 Every night, Aoba and Koujaku cuddled. They never let the other go. This continued for about three nights. Each night, the two embraced each other tighter than the last. On the third night, Koujaku had lead Aoba down to moonlit pond in the forest clearing. The two ended up going for a swim and goofing off like they normally did. The moonlight reflected Koujaku's beastly appearance on the water, but this time, he didn't react badly to seeing himself. Aoba drew closer to his lover and clinged to his arm. Koujaku turned his head to look at Aoba.

 

 “Aoba, I love you,” Koujaku spoke. It had taken a lot of energy for him to get the words out, and they still sounded a lot like growls, but nonetheless he had said them, the words that he had been wanting to say since the beginning of this ordeal, and with those words, he knew that soon enough, he'd be human again for the time being and everything would return back to normal, even though he knew he still would turn into a beast again eventually, he wouldn't be afraid of himself and he wouldn't lose himself. Aoba had taught him that regardless of what he was, he was still deserving of love. 

 

 Aoba stood up on the tips of his toes and kissed Koujaku on the cheek. 

 

 “I love you too hippo,” 

 

  
  
  



End file.
